PNB Housing Finance on Monday told the Securities Appellate Tribunal that the ₹4,000-crore stake sale to a clutch of investors, led by private equity firm Carlyle Group, was being singled out by SEBI when similar fund-raising by other entities have gone through without any objections.
Senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas, arguing the case on behalf of PNB Housing, said that SEBI did not have jurisdiction on the issue.
In June, the Securities and Exchange Board of India had asked PNB Housing Finance not to go ahead with the stake sale, until the housing finance company undertakes an independent valuation of its shares. The market regulator said the notice given by PNBHF on May 31 for an Extraordinary General Meeting to approve the stake sale is “ultra-vires of Article of Association (AoA) and shall not be acted upon until the company undertakes the valuation of shares.”
PNB Housing challenged the SEBI order after which SAT had allowed PNB Housing to go through with the EGM but asked it to not disclose the voting results until further orders.